Sorted by date Results 951 - 975 of 1840
The Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA took a step in the right direction last Tuesday night at Staples Center when they beat the Phoenix Mercury in the first game of the WNBA semifinals. The final score was 79-66. All five Sparks starters scored in double figures. After playing one more game at home the Sparks travel to Phoenix for games three and four this weekend, on Sunday at 2 p.m. and Tuesday if necessary. It’s a best of five series....
When I heard the NBA was going to investigate the Indiana Pacers’ claim that the Lakers had tampered with one of their players, Paul George I thought it was a weak case. My reasoning was that George, who grew up in Southern California, has been telling everyone for the last year or two that he intended to sign with the Lakers when his contract expires in 2018. What could the Lakers add to that? But when the NBA announced last Thursday that they have fined the Lakers $500,000 I listened c...
The only thing missing was a fireworks show to end the action-packed performance. 2017 Culver City High football got off to an explosive start as the Centaurs' offensive machine dominated visiting West High of Torrance 58-27 before a very spirited and satisfied home crowd on Friday, September 1 at Jerry Chabola Stadium. The defending Ocean League champions continued right where they left off last season in terms of a high-flying offense when the Centaurs averaged more than 42 points per game....
Ready of not, the Sean McVay era is about to begin for the Los Angeles Rams. The team will host the Indianapolis Colts Sunday afternoon, September 10, at the Coliseum to open the 2017 NFL season. Rams Head Coach McVay and his coaching staff will be compelled to quickly instill a winning attitude and record due after a dismal 4-12 season under the previous coaching regime. The Rams finished the preseason with a 2-2 record after losing at Green Bay, 24-10, last Thursday. The game's only...
The Los Angeles Coliseum has been a place where a lot of great football games have been played. When No. 6 USC clashes with No. 14 Stanford on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at the Coliseum, it figures to be another one of those games that has Pac-12 and national implications. Both teams are 1-0 and both teams have great football tradition. USC’s 49-21 win over Western Michigan last Saturday was a good test for the Trojans. Although the name Western Michigan does not scare a lot of people, they are a v...
In doing my job I attend a lot of games and talk to a lot of people. Sometimes I hear folks say professional athletes make too much money It’s true that some of them make a lot more than star players of the past. This many million, that many million. It seems like an awful, awful lot, But then something tragic happens and they pitch in. Consider the current flooding damage in Houston from Hurricane Harvey and contributions from the sports world. Leslie Alexander, owner of the Houston Rockets, p...
UCLA's 45-44 thrilling comeback win over Texas A&M last Sunday at the Rose Bowl was a game that defied all logical explanations when it comes to making a sports comeback. What made it so hard to believe was that the Bruins were so bad in the first have and so good in the second half. They were down 38 to 10 at half time and even some of UCLA's most devoted fans were so discouraged that they started to leave the Rose Bowl. UCLA appeared to be sleep walking in the first half and they continued to...
The UCLA football team will find out early if it has improved from last year when they take on a good Texas A&M football team at the Rose Bowl on a rare college game on Sunday. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. The Bruins are hoping to get off to a fast start in 2017 and improve on their 4-8 season last year. If they expect to improve they will need to get better in several categories. Number one on the list is protecting All-Star quarterback Josh Rosen. Number two is improving the running game....
The USC football team has enough talent in 2017 to stay at the top of the Pac-12 and national rankings. They have one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in Sam Darnold. They always have outstanding running backs led by Roland Jones ll and their defense is fast and strong. They will put those talents on display Saturday when they open their season against Western Michigan at 2:15 p.m. at the Coliseum. The No. 4 ranked Trojans should score a lot of points against Western Michigan but they...
More than 55,000 Angelenos showed up to watch the Los Angeles Chargers outlast the Los Angeles Rams 21-19 in the very first ever preseason matchup between the instant cross-town rivals at the L.A. Coliseum on Saturday, August 26. The Chargers' starting units looked ready as ever to open the 2017 NFL season in a few weeks. The Rams... not so much. The Chargers were nearly flawless as they jumped to a 21-0 first quarter lead. Charger quarterback Philip Rivers was perfect in leading his team to two...
I considered several topics for my column this week. Topics from different sports. Less than an hour into my thinking I had my answer. It wasn’t a difficult decision. In fact, it was ridiculously easy.The Dodgers getting Curtis Granderson for a very low price boggled my mind. Granderson, now 36, has hit 314 home runs in his 14 major league seasons and driven in 862 runs. He’s made more than $100 million in his 14 major league seasons and been an All-Star three times. Known as The Grandy Man...
The final three games of the regular season for the Sparks include a Sunday date with the other power team in the WNBA, the Minnesota Lynx. The Lynx and the Sparks are the two best teams in the league so their game on Sunday; although it's still a regular season game has playoff implications. Tip off for the game is set for 4 p.m. at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. The Sparks (22-8) still have an outside chance of overtaking the 23-6 Lynx with three games remaining in the regular...
The NFL game pre-dress rehearsal offered only a glimpse but a revealing one, both visually and statistically. Progress continued as the Los Angeles Rams ran their 2017 preseason record to 2-0 with a 24-21 win over the Oakland Raiders on Saturday, August 19 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. It's no coincidence that the Rams have a new spring in their step along with a rejuvenated attitude following last season's self-destructive tailspin. The obvious difference is the players buying in to...
In an attempt to slow down the coaches’ new trend of frequently resting players the NBA will start this season a couple of weeks earlier. The NBA and many fans want less times when uninjured players are held out of games. The slightly longer time frame of the same 82 games could work in that direction. The opening night schedule on October 17 will include a game between defending champion Golden State and Houston, which has acquired star point guard Chris Paul from the Clippers. Two nights l...
For the second consecutive year the Los Angeles Rams opened up the NFL preseason at home in the L.A. Coliseum with a victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, August 12. The 13-10 exhibition win also marked the debut of new Rams Head Coach Sean McVay before an estimated crowd of more than 50,000. But the big news was the acquisition of wide receiver Sammy Watkins from the Buffalo Bills in a trade for cornerback E.J. Gaines. The Rams also gave the Bills a 2018 second-rounder in exchange for a...
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has decided that Doc Rivers should concentrate on coaching and has moved Lawrence Frank into the position of overseeing basketball operations. Rivers and Frank have a long friendship and Rivers will continue to offer opinions on personnel matters. “After owning the franchise for three years I see there’s a tremendous difference between coaching and running a franchise,” said Ballmer. “Each one requires a lot of time.”The Clippers are expected to have nine new playe...
At one time in his remarkable playing career Don Baylor played in the World Series three straight seasons. For three different teams. Baylor, who played for 14 different franchises, died Monday and has been praised by teammates and opponents as a special gentleman. Baylor was the 1979 American League MVP after driving in 139 runs. He was later the Angels’ batting coach, In his major league career he hit 338 home runs. But despite his size and power Baylor became known for his ability to be h...
The 2017 season can't come soon enough for the Los Angeles Rams as they strive to quickly distant themselves from last season's unimpressive return to Southern California. The first step begins this Saturday, August 12 in the first preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys at 6 p.m in the L.A. Coliseum. The team officially opened its preseason for the second straight year with practice at University of California, Irvine last week. First-year Rams Head Coach Sean McVay and his staff have 90...
The Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA started a five-game road trip last Sunday with a 85-79 loss to the Dallas Wings. On Friday, (today) they take on the best team in the WNBA, the Minnesota Lynx at 5 p.m.. At press time the Lynx were 28-6 and the Sparks were 26-8. They are the best two teams in the WNBA. After Friday’s game against Minnesota the Sparks travel to New York on Sunday, Washington on Wednesday and Chicago on Friday. The Sparks return home on Tuesday, August 22 to play San Antonio a...
The good news around Westwood is quarterback Josh Rosen is returning for his junior year. The bad news is, there are still some major question marks about the offensive line. Last year the problems with the line created complications running the ball and protecting the quarterback. The lack of protection caused a season-ending injury to Rosen. UCLA head coach Jim Mora thinks Rosen benefitted from being on the sidelines. His injury last season humbled Josh to a certain degree, said Mora last...
What can the Trojans do for an encore? The USC football team won nine games in a row last season after starting the season 1-3. Those nine wins included their dramatic victory over Penn State in the Rose Bowl on January 2. Now is time to see if USC can live up to the great expectations that comes with winning nine games in a row. The Trojans are ranked as high as No. 2 in some preseason college polls and they are picked to win the Pac-12. As usual USC is has star power and that starts with...
We’ re a long way from the World Series. About 60 more regular season games, then the playoffs begin. But today I want to congratulate the Dodgers. After trying to succeed on the path to the World Series the last four years with inexperienced starting pitchers they made the move Monday that was necessary. They gave up their No. 4-rated prospect, 22-year-old Willie Calhoun to acquire Yu Darvish, a four-time Major League all-star. There’ s no guarantee he’ s going to be the pitcher who allow...
The good news around Westwood is quarterback Josh Rosen is returning for his junior year. The bad news is, there are still some major question marks about the offensive line. Last year the problems with the line created complications running the ball and protecting the quarterback. The lack of protection caused a season-ending injury to Rosen. UCLA head coach Jim Mora thinks Rosen benefitted from being on the sidelines. His injury last season humbled Josh to a certain degree, said Mora last...
We’ re a long way from the World Series. About 60 more regular season games, then the playoffs begin. But today I want to congratulate the Dodgers. After trying to succeed on the path to the World Series the last four years with inexperienced starting pitchers they made the move Monday that was necessary. They gave up their No. 4-rated prospect, 22-year-old Willie Calhoun to acquire Yu Darvish, a four-time Major League all-star. There’ s no guarantee he’ s going to be the pitcher who allow...
The hottest ticket in town is the City of Carson. The Los Angeles Chargers drew thousands of enthusiastic fans to their opening day of training camp at the Jack Hammett Complex in Costa Mesa last Saturday morning. Carson residents can only smile as the Chargers begin their three-year run at the city's StubHub Center next Sunday, August 13. There are multiple reasons why the city will host the Chargers for the next three seasons. Geographic location, state-of-the-art athletic fields, civic planni...
